Nvidia has used its experience developing graphics processing units (GPUs) — which were originally developed for applications like gaming but turned out to be rather good at AI tasks — to become a dominant force in AI infrastructure and applications. 

But a host of established companies and startups are investing heavily to capture a share of the growing AI computing market. This includes building new types of chips specifically for training and running AI models, evolving traditional processors like CPUs and GPUs to better support AI workloads, and exploring novel information processing technologies such as quantum and neuromorphic computing. 

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Humans will still play a crucial role — but instead of assembling parts or operating machinery, they will maintain robots and keep them running.

In these future factories, robots coordinate in unison, completing work automatically — without breaks, every hour of the day — to get products out the door. 

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While Nvidia initially developed its graphics processing units (GPUs) for gaming, these chips turned out to be ideal for powering AI tasks. Now, the company is focusing its efforts on providing the computing hardware — notably its A100 and H100 GPUs — and the software infrastructure required for developing generative AI applications.

Amid the generative AI rush, Nvidia has grown rapidly. In fact, it recently surpassed Microsoft and Apple to become the world’s most valuable company. To bolster its leadership position and keep ahead of AI computing competitors like AMD and Intel, Nvidia has forged relationships with companies across the AI landscape.

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The industry is built around encoding information in quantum entities called “qubits” — which have a probability of being either 1 or 0, as opposed to traditional bits that can only be one or the other — to open up new computational approaches and ways of handling data that are not possible on conventional devices.

For example, quantum computing could allow entirely new algorithms that are much more efficient at some key tasks — like complex optimization problems, sorting through large datasets, and running simulations. Though the tech is not yet mature, companies are already working to apply quantum computing to commercial applications like drug discovery, finance, materials discovery, and logistics. Investors are excited — startups in the space saw equity funding surge to $1.3B in 2023, a rare bright spot for venture last year. As quantum computers become more capable in the coming years, expect commercial interest to rise quickly.

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Funding to the space set a new record in 2023 — bucking the broader decrease in venture funding for the second year in a row.  

While still a nascent technology, startups are pursuing a broad range of potential use cases for quantum computing (which process information in a fundamentally different way to typical computers) across numerous industries — from training AI models more efficiently to simulating otherwise hard-to-model chemical reactions to quickly solving complex logistics problems, among many others.

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The company maintains a robust internal combustion portfolio, but it has aggressively invested across the entire vehicle electrification ecosystem. Despite scaling back its EV production goals to account for fluctuating consumer demand, GM remains committed to electric vehicles and plans to have the capacity to produce 1M EVs by 2025.

Meanwhile, GM has also pulled back from fully autonomous driving by reducing spending on Cruise — its autonomous vehicle (AV) subsidiary — and moved investments away from AV companies. However, the company has retained its focus on its advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), Super Cruise.

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Threats to company hardware — e.g., servers, chips, and hard drives — abound.

For example, some attackers are creating counterfeit hardware that companies are incorporating into their IT infrastructures. These devices often contain backdoors that can be exploited to access company systems. Attackers are also finding ways to modify existing devices to gain unauthorized access. Meanwhile, elements like outdated password practices and firmware-level exploits are introducing additional vulnerabilities.

These hardware attacks can be incredibly damaging.

Compromised hardware can undermine all other cybersecurity defenses in place, granting cybercriminals direct access to sensitive information. Hardware attacks can also allow attackers to gain direct control of a device and even those connected to it in some cases, putting entire systems at risk of infiltration and disruption.

Meanwhile, the risks facing company hardware are intensifying with the development of new technologies. For example, quantum computers could eventually become capable of cracking some types of encryption in a fraction of the time it would take a conventional computer — complicating everyday challenges like user verification, access control, handling data, and more.

As a result, companies are turning to hardware security solutions to protect their physical devices and prevent unauthorized access to enterprise systems.

In the market map below, we identify 144 hardware security vendors operating across 15 categories.

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Note: This map includes public companies, private startups, and exited companies that continue to operate independently. It is not intended to be exhaustive of the space and categories are not mutually exclusive.

Key takeaways

1. Hardware security markets are in varying stages of development. For example, post-quantum cryptography saw an influx of early-stage investment activity last year, while the hardware security modules market is dominated by more legacy firms.
2. More industries — from manufacturing to automotive — are embracing connected products, bringing internet of things (IoT) security front and center. Among highlighted markets, IoT security has seen the most equity deals over the past year (15 deals).
3. Access control is becoming more central to hardware security. Companies are increasingly moving IP assets and computing operations to the cloud, which is creating a new set of security challenges. Consequently, several different markets are now focused on managing user credentials and permissions for cloud applications to uphold hardware security — e.g., enterprise key management, passwordless authentication tools, and biometric identity.

Market descriptions

Enterprise key management

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At the heart of its growth strategy is the integration of AI. In 2017, the company founded the Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence — a global team dedicated to advanced AI research — while investing over $100M+ into a new AI campus. The company’s 2025 goal is to incorporate AI in all of its products or develop them using AI.

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Healthcare isn’t an entirely new sector for Nvidia. It invested in healthcare-focused computer vision startup Zebra Medical Vision, for instance, back in 2017.

In the past few years, however, its investments and partnerships have coalesced into a clear strategy, as the chipmaker builds on its work in advanced computing to lay the foundation for next-gen AI applications in health IT. For instance, it has redoubled efforts in areas like edge computing, which makes it easier to deploy AI in care settings where broadband internet connectivity is limited or nonexistent.

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There are multiple reasons behind the swelling tide. For one, chips are an integral — and growing — component of devices across sectors, from consumer products to automotive to industrial IoT.

Geopolitics also play a major role. Many countries want to ensure self-sufficiency in an industry they see as being foundational to economic growth and national security.

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The UK-based company — a licensor of chip designs to industry leaders like Apple, Google, NVIDIA, and Samsung — dominates smartphone chip architecture with a 99% market share.

However, recent years have been marked by uncertainty for the company, with a $40B acquisition by NVIDIA collapsing in early 2022. The deal faced opposition from customers like Qualcomm and Microsoft, as well as intense regulatory scrutiny.

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But fortunes began to improve dramatically in 2014 with the arrival of CEO Lisa Su, who has helped channel the company’s efforts toward high-growth areas like AI. Its stock price has since climbed 25x.

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After bringing on a new CEO in 2020 and reprioritizing its investment strategy, the company has aggressively pursued plans to build an ecosystem for automated, connected, and electric vehicles. It has maintained a dual focus on passenger and commercial markets.

At the same time, the company has experienced considerable growth. Its stock price has more than doubled over the past 3 years — and it has also watched its market cap pass that of one of its largest domestic competitors, General Motors. 

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Reflecting this trend, companies in the cloud GPU market are gaining traction as enterprises look to leverage high-performance GPUs without the need for making big investments in on-premises infrastructure. 

For example, cloud GPU startup CoreWeave recently became a vendor for Microsoft to provide additional capacity for running AI applications on its Azure cloud computing platform (which includes ChatGPT-maker OpenAI as a customer).

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Although the loss was in part driven by an expensive, ongoing strategic transition, Intel highlighted a number of factors — such as decreasing PC demand and declining data center markets — that negatively impacted results and reflect headwinds in the semiconductor industry broadly.

Startups have been affected by the current downturn, with revenues and venture funding experiencing recent declines. However, there are several areas proving to be resilient to this change, including chips for AI, automotive, and quantum computing.

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For example, the growing popularity of EVs has also increased demand for high-performing semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), which can handle high-power applications more efficiently than traditional silicon chips — useful for increasing the driving range of EVs. Bosch, one of the leading automotive parts suppliers globally, recently doubled down on the silicon carbide space by acquiring TSI Semiconductors and announcing plans to invest $1.5B in upgrading one of its facilities to produce SiC semiconductors.

This trend towards efficient and high-performing semiconductors in the EV industry is likely to continue as automakers seek ways to improve vehicle performance and range.

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But the company’s interests extend far beyond aerospace — and many of its focus areas cut across industries. For instance, Lockheed has invested heavily in developing advanced manufacturing capabilities and is also quickly expanding its space-based communications offerings. Meanwhile, advances in AI and leveraging next-gen computer chips are also set to play key roles across many of its business lines.

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This achievement is partly attributed to its pioneering work in accelerated computing, which uses specialty hardware to complete demanding software tasks much faster than previously possible.

Initially, this effort was primarily focused on gaming — but NVIDIA’s development of parallel processing in 2006 paved the way for new capabilities in scientific and research applications. This breakthrough allowed multiple computations at a given time instead of sequentially, resulting in much faster processing speeds.

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However, as the shift toward autonomous and electric vehicles accelerates, automotive suppliers like Bosch are ramping up their investment in next-generation automotive technologies — such as advanced electronics and semiconductors — as well as establishing more collaborative relationships with other manufacturers.

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Automakers are shifting away from traditional technologies like internal combustion engines and moving toward a future of autonomous vehicles, electrification, and increased connectivity.

This transformation also extends beyond the vehicle and into the factory, where automation and robotics play an increasing role in the assembly line.

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The Covid-19 pandemic caused major semiconductor shortages, resulting in long lead times for anything requiring computer chips. Now, in the midst of an economic downturn, major chipmakers are pulling back spending. Intel, for example, is planning layoffs as part of its effort to slash costs by up to $10B a year by 2025.

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But demand rebounded faster than expected. As automakers resumed orders, they were moved to the end of the line in favor of more profitable semiconductor customers. Automakers were not receiving enough semiconductors to meet production capabilities and consumer demand. This resulted in vehicle shortages, costing the auto industry $210B in 2021.

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As it looks to stay at the forefront of digital innovation, the firm has ramped up its activity in everything from extended reality (XR) to autonomous driving. Since 2019, Qualcomm has backed more than 80 companies (via Qualcomm Ventures) and made nearly 10 acquisitions, including mobile AR-focused Wikitude and autonomous driving software developer Arriver. In March 2022, the company announced its $100M Snapdragon Metaverse Fund.

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As the world’s most valuable company, with a $2T+ market cap and over $100B in annual profit, Apple has long been known for its cell phones, laptops, tablets, and watches. Today, the company is investing aggressively in high-tech areas like AR/VR, AI, and semiconductors to lay the groundwork for products and features that affect health & wellness, mobility, digital connections, and more.

Although Apple is famously secretive, its acquisitions, partnerships, and investment activity provide a window into where it’s headed next. The company has acquired more than 25 companies since 2018, from edge-based AI startup Xnor.ai to VR streaming platform NextVR. Apple has also committed $430B for new investments and 20,000 new jobs in the US over 5 years — in addition to further investments in Europe and India — across silicon engineering, AI, and 5G tech.

Using CB Insights data, we uncovered 4 of Apple’s emerging strategic priorities highlighted by its recent acquisitions, investments, and partnerships. We then categorized companies by their business relationships with Apple across these priorities.

• AR/VR
• Digital health
• Machine learning & AI
• Semiconductors & advanced materials

These designations are not exhaustive of Apple’s investment and partnership activity in the analyzed period.

AR/VR

Apple started investigating augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications over a decade ago, as evidenced by its patent activity. For example, its ARKit framework (launched in 2017) — which enables developers to build AR experiences into their apps — is now used in over 14,000 apps with over 13M total downloads.

In recent years, companies in the AR/VR space have become serious M&A targets for Apple, coinciding with rumors about its internal development of a mixed reality headset that is expected to release in 2023 (eventually followed by a sleeker pair of glasses).

In 2018, Apple acquired 2 companies in the space: Camerai, an Israel-based computer vision and AR tech company, and Akonia Holographics, an AR optics developer. These purchases helped grow Apple’s patent portfolio and talent, setting the foundation for its future AR products.

Then in 2020, Apple acquired two VR companies. First was NextVR for a reported $100M, which developed solutions for the capture and delivery of sports and entertainment virtual reality content. A few months later, Apple purchased Spaces, which created location-based and themed virtual environments.

While Apple has not been explicit about its metaverse ambitions like fellow big tech giant Meta, its continued investment in AR/VR sets it up for more immersive digital environments of the future — and the hardware they may need.

Digital health

Apple is continuing to cement its focus in health as part of a wider strategic priority, as we’ve previously examined here and here. Apple is also working with companies, universities, app developers, and others to move this priority forward.

Central to this strategy are Apple devices, such as the Apple Watch and iPhone, which enable users to track, aggregate, and share their health data.

The company’s research teams are actively exploring new health indicators the Apple Watch could help monitor. Last year, Apple announced a collaboration with Biogen IDEC to investigate how the device can detect declines in cognitive health. Apple has also teamed up with several university and government partners — such as the NIH, the White House, Harvard, UCLA, and the University of Michigan — to conduct studies that use Apple devices to address issues ranging from Covid-19 to noise exposure to women’s health.

Meanwhile, Apple has landed agreements with major health plans like UnitedHealthcare and Aetna to offer subsidized Apple Watches and other wellness services to members.

In 2019, the company purchased Tueo Health, which developed a system to help parents monitor asthma symptoms in sleeping children. This acquisition is further indication of Apple’s intention to engage consumers on health & wellness.

Machine learning & AI

Apple has aggressively acquired companies across the machine learning (a type of AI that leverages past data to understand future scenarios) and AI space — outpacing fellow tech giants like Google and Microsoft — to shore up its AI efforts.

Apple’s AI acquisition spree has been essential to the development of new iPhone features. Many of its purchases are positioned to enhance its virtual assistant, Siri, but they also have applications across many other parts of its software.

For example, Apple acquired in 2019 and 2020:

• Laserlike, an ML platform that could better personalize Siri, news feeds, and video apps for individual users.
• Voysis, to improve Siri’s language understanding.
• Inductiv, which developed an AI platform to automatically identify and correct errors in datasets, helping software to improve with less human intervention.
• Spectral Edge, a company with infrared tech that could enhance iPhone photos.

In January 2020, Apple also acquired Xnor.ai for a reported $200M, which specialized in developing highly efficient ML models deployed at the edge. The edge computing startup could enhance a number of Apple’s device ML models, including those related to capturing and processing images, natural language processing, and object recognition.

Other AI acquisitions include Lighthouse AI, a developer of AI-powered home security cameras, and Silk Labs, which developed on-device ML software. These possibly point to Apple strengthening its smart speaker, the HomePod, with a focus on privacy by keeping data on the device.

Semiconductors & advanced materials

Apple is considered by some as the most advanced semiconductor design firm in the world. It’s also partnered with TSMC — the most advanced semiconductor production firm in the world — to produce chips. Semiconductor production is an extremely complex manufacturing process, making this partnership critical.

Apple’s design history started in 2008, when the company made the prescient purchase of PA Semi, a semiconductor design firm. Apple understood that if it wanted the best consumer experience possible, it needed to design its own chips, tailored to its own devices.

In the years since, Apple has remained aggressive in semiconductor design. The company purchased Intel‘s smartphone modem business in 2019 for $1B, giving it a significant patent portfolio and 2,200 former Intel employees. This followed the acquisition of Dialog Semiconductor‘s power management division in 2018 for $600M. 

Apple has built out its semiconductor capabilities further with investments in critical suppliers, including Corning and II-VI. Corning is the manufacturer of Gorilla Glass, a durable glass used for iPhone screens. On top of the $450M it’s already given to Corning, Apple invested $45M in the company in 2021 — coinciding with the rise of bendable iPhone rumors, though no official purpose for the funding was given.

Meanwhile, Apple invested $410M in II-VI in 2021, building on its $390M investment in II-VI-owned Finisar in 2017. II-VI makes the optical technologies that power features like Face ID and Portrait mode, as well as the lasers used in Apple’s LiDAR Scanner, which is used to create AR experiences.

In addition to these investments, Apple has developed partnerships with leading firms such as Foxconn, one of its main partners in iPhone production, and LG Display, a producer of its OLED displays.

Other categories

Beyond these 4 strategic areas, Apple has made noteworthy acquisitions, investments, and partnerships across a number of other categories.

Autos

Rumors of an Apple car have existed since 2014, further materializing in 2018 when the company partnered with Volkswagen to turn some of the carmaker’s vans into autonomous employee shuttles.

Over the past few years, Apple has also filed a number of car patents. Using CB Insights patents search tool, we can see that the company is focusing on traditional car technologies, such as thermal management systems and vehicle seating.

Beyond patents, Apple has made one acquisition in the space, purchasing autonomous driving startup Drive.ai in 2019. Apple has also reportedly held talks with Hyundai, Toyota, and Porsche — focusing on car and battery production in the US with Hyundai and Toyota, and car production with Porsche.  

DIGITAL MEDIA & Services

Apple has grown its services segment — which includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, cloud services, and others — to nearly $20B in quarterly revenue, with 825M paid subscriptions as of the second quarter.

Alongside this growth, Apple has made multiple acquisitions of digital media companies over the last 2 years, including Scout FM, Vilnyx, Primephonic, and AI Music. These purchases are aimed at enhancing its music and podcasting capabilities, while the Vilynx purchase — for a reported $50M — provides AI tools that help analyze and understand videos. 

Apple’s 2018 acquisition of digital magazine service Texture laid the foundation for its subscription service Apple News+, launched in 2019. 

More recently, Apple notably invested in independent music distribution platform UnitedMasters, participating in the company’s 2021 Series B alongside Alphabet and Andreessen Horowitz. The company also partnered with Verizon to offer the telecom’s Unlimited customers a free trial of Apple Music, and with Comcast on a cross-platform distribution deal for their streaming apps.

FinTech

Apple first released Apple Pay — a digital wallet and mobile payment system — in 2014. Since then, Apple has continued to invest in payments and beyond.

In July 2020, the company acquired Mobeewave, which developed a solution to turn any NFC phone into a mobile payment terminal. Most recently, Apple purchased UK-based fintech Credit Kudos, which uses consumer banking data for better informed credit checks.

Apple has also developed partnerships to grow its services, including with PayHawk and Isracard to expand Apple Pay, and with Goldman Sachs to launch the Apple credit card.

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We already have virtual worlds featuring live concerts and online games where players spend hundreds of hours — but metaverse enthusiasts see a future where entire societies thrive in an online realm inhabited by avatars of real people.

While the space is still in early days, the longer-term implications may not be trivial. Some users — especially younger ones — may eventually earn, spend, and invest most of their money in digital worlds. The metaverse could represent a $1T market by the end of the decade, according to CB Insights’ Industry Analyst Consensus.

The metaverse is a vision, not a specific technology. For enterprises, this ambiguity can make it challenging to figure out how to tap into the emerging trends the metaverse represents.

In this report, we provide a framework to navigate this evolving topic by breaking down the metaverse into distinct technological layers and highlighting the key vendors set on making the metaverse a reality.

Download the report to explore each layer in detail:

• Infrastructure (network & computing)
• Access/interface (hardware)
• Virtualization tools
• Virtual worlds
• Economic infrastructure
• Experiences

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